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From: petrich@netcom.com (Loren Petrich)
Subject: Some Linguistic Idiocy (was Re: Thieving Greeks?)
Message-ID: <petrichD2H8oG.51C@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <10b_9501100533@cheswicks.toadnet.org> <3fa5g7$mb8@shore.shore.net> <petrichD2FLB5.Hwt@netcom.com> <3fc6kj$2cs@shore.shore.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 02:38:39 GMT
Lines: 35
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu sci.archaeology:17745 sci.lang:34401

	[WARNING! Don't read further unless you have a sense of humor :-)]

	Here is just _one_ example of the sort of inane "etymologies" 
that a certain someone in sci.archaeology has been giving us, in his 
efforts to demonstrate that much of the Indo-European languages' 
vocabulary is derived from Ancient Egyptian:

In article <3fc6kj$2cs@shore.shore.net>, whittet <whittet@shore.net> wrote:

>>>>>>Egyptian glyph of an eye, it's sound is ir, it's usage is overseer.
>>>>>>what happens if we get something in our iris, does it iritate our eye?
>>>>>>do we get irate and raise our eyebrows like an angry overseer?

	He's posted several other such "etymologies" in sci.archaeology --
consider his derivations of the words for "Sun" in several Indo-European
languages, his attempt to relate the Egyptian word for "ten" [md] to the
English word "mound", and so forth. 

	His main counterargument is how does one _not_ know that they got 
it from the Egyptians -- which is setting up a straw argument if there 
ever was one. And when challenged, he turns around and claims that 
linguistic arguments are a side issue, and that the _real_ issue is 
whether or not some 4000-5000-year-old Saudi Arabian cultures were the 
great ur-culture.

	He also does not seem to know the difference between a language 
and a writing system; as a result, he claims that Greek is derived from 
Phoenician just because of their writing systems.


-- 
Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster
petrich@netcom.com                   Happiness is a fast Macintosh
lip@s1.gov                           And a fast train

